Philo Christianus

In his book on Philo in Early Christian Literature(CRINT III,3; Leiden,1993), David T. Runia has an introductory chapter on 'Philo Christianus'; that is, on how Philo became 'a church father honoris causa'. Early Christian writers first made a connection between Philo and the Christians, later he even was considered a Christian. The first Christian writer to make a connection between Philo and Christians was Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History. However, there is little historical values in this information. Runia himself surmises that the beginning of the legend of the Christian Philo may go back to a now lost work of Clement.

The reason I mention this here today is the article I found on the Internett last week, proposing that Philo wrote the Gospel of Mark.
The main arguments of the author of that article are fanciful, but not much convincing, and run like this:
He starts out with a doubtful premise already at the beginning: "In reality the only definite information pertaining to "Mark" was that it was the first Gospel composed and that it was written in the colloquial Greek of the Alexandrian Jews." Not only that, but " the hidden message within the cryptic Gospel is directed by a Jew of Alexandria specifically towards the Jews of Alexandria, Hellenized Jews. The latter is confirmed by the fact that the version of the Jewish Scriptures quoted in "Mark" is the Greek Septuagint. "
The only possible candidate he can find as the plausible author is Philo of Alexandria. This, furthermore, he argues along these lines: "Philo created Jesus as his vehicle. Firstly, Jesus would follow in the literary traditions of Socrates. Secondly, Jesus would be the literary personification of the Logos. The first point is argued by a list of issues in the life of Socrate and of Jesus he finds comparable; the second is argued by considering the Philonic logos 'doctrine' an invention of Philo, and a hidden way of depicting Jesus.
The author also considers "Mark" as esoteric literature, a vehicle for a hidden message, finally written during the "the religious oppression of the Alexandrian Jews by Caligula. It was this oppression which drove the Jews of Alexandria underground. This is the secret society steeped in Judaism … a secret society full of ritual, signs and symbolism." Here he also finds that "Philo of Alexandria incorporated events of the Maccabaean Rebellion into his cryptic, or secret, gospel for two main reasons. Firstly as a tribute to the Maccabees and their victory in the face of all odds, and secondly to give the Alexandrian Jews hope in the face of the current religious oppression under Caligula. Most importantly, only the Alexandrian Jews would be able to interpret "Mark" correctly. This again is tried substantiated by another list of alledged parallels between the story of the maccabees and the Gospel.

I'm not sure how to consider the article; is it a joke or not? probably not. The author have other articles on his site focusing on Egypt, and he seems to have a certain preference for finding aspects of early masonry in Egypt.
His arguments in the article mentioned above is strained. Its greek language and use of the Septuagint is no argument for an Alexandrian provenance. Did not also the other New Testament authors write in Greek and cited from Septuagintian versions? His list of parallels between Jesus and Socrate, or his alledged references in "Mark" to the Oppression of the Jews, under Caligula, or References in "Mark" to the Maccabaean Rebellion are all strained, to say the least. And he never copes with the question that would have to be answered; why is there no other references to Jesus or Christians in any of the other works of Philo.

For those who would like to learn more about Philo in later Christian literature, the abovementioned book of David T. Runia is most illuminating. Tolle lege!